Maras Gift
by cheeringforraindrops
Summary: After finding an old coffin in an antique store, Willa finds a journey she didn't ask for. Thrust into a world that she doesn't understand, filled with people that don't speak her language, and one particular man that she can't seem to get enough of.
1. Chapter 1

Willa slung her guitar case over her back, collecting the small hat filled with various coins, dollars, and a coupon for buy one sandwich get one free from subway. She shoved the money in the pocket of her jeans and turned the coupon over, checking the expiration date. She was pleased to see she had another day before time ran out, normally she only received already expired ones.

Dodging between pedestrian traffic after rush hour was something every good New Yorker could do without looking up from their phone. The street lights began flickering on, shimmering in the sidewalk puddles letting Willa know it was time to make her way down to her apartment. She'd spent years working in this town and still didn't feel comfortable being out late on her own. Willa pulled her hoodie up and zipped it to her chin, watching the heels of the couple in front of her. Contemplating stopping to get the two sandwiches for tonight's dinner, although she knew if she didn't eat both of them surely her roommate would snag it in the middle of the night without her knowing.

As the blocks passed and dark settled in the roads became less congested, Willa turned down a side road to take a short route back to her place. Ahead of her two men leaned against a wall, their voices muffled but upset. Willa turned back to head down the long way but a man was behind her as well, approaching the two up ahead. Caught in the middle Willa put her head down and pretended not to notice the pair and stayed on course. This was a drug deal if Willa had ever seen one, but not something she was comfortable staying in the middle of. A little shop was open next to her, Willa ducked her head in as if she was always going there. The little bell above the door jingling to announce her presence.

Letting out a whoosh of breath that she hadn't know she was holding in, Willa turned and glanced out the small warped window on the door, all three men were talking. Deciding to wait a few before continuing on Willa turned back to the small shop. It was filled from top to bottom with old junk, a hoarders paradise if she had ever seen one.

"Good evening," a woman called from behind a table filled with old rusted tools from the stone age. "Come in, take a look, if you need anything feel free to ask."

"It's quite a collection you have here," Willa pushed her hood back and craned around to see the woman, bent over in her chair and watching a small box tv that must have been older than Willa.

"It can be quite a bit to take in," the old woman barely glanced up from her show, "but, if you look close I bet you can find something of interest for you."

"Well…thanks," Willa gingerly stepped over a couple old radio boxes, peering out the barred side window to still see the three men. Last thing she wanted was to interrupt a drug deal. She sighed and resigned herself to looking through some cupboards filled with rather cute china cups. Then over to an empty doll house, around the corner to extremely old magazines in a stack, and down to a set of dressers.

A particularly old, black stone coffin caught her eye. It was nothing like she had ever seen before, Willa ran her hand over the intricate carvings alone the edge. She pulled at the top of it to try and open it, but the lid was incredibly heavy. Checking to see if the old woman was behind her, Willa slid her guitar off her shoulder and propped it up against a rack of woman's jackets. Using both her hands Willa pulled on the lid, still it didn't budge. Bracing one against the edge and wiggling her fingers under the lip of the lid she pulled with everything she had, nothing.

Taking a step back Willa looked at the thing, surely it opened, hopefully without the body still inside. Willa shook off the image of a dead guy falling out and hitting her. She felt oddly determined to get the lid open. Normally not one to push matters, Willa checked behind her again before putting one foot up onto the rim and pulling with both her hands. This coffin was just too magnificent to not have something equally wonderful inside. Just before she was about to give up, the lid budged. Not forward like she was pulling, but off to the side. Taking a step back she mentally smacked herself in the forehead, it was a sliding lid.

Though it was still heavy, Willa used her shoulder and grunted as she managed to slide the lid enough to the side to look inside. Cold air rolled out of the coffin, Willa shivered as she took a step back. The inside was dark, too dark. Willa peered in cautiously, the dim light behind her not giving her enough glow to see the back. Willa hesitated as she put her hand inside the darkness and felt for the back, but only touched air. It made no sense, Willa stepped back and looked at the incredibly solid wall that the coffin was leaning against. Logic told her that she should be feeling the wall if not the back of the coffin.

Cold air surrounded her as if poured from the coffin, more confident that this was some sort of illusion, Willa put her arm back in, reaching to touch the back. When she didn't touch anything she stuck her head in and leaned into the darkness, still nothing, shoulders in, nothing, waist in, nothing, finally she stepped entirely into the blackness. All around her it was cold, a breeze blowing from somewhere in the distance.

Willa wrapped her arms around herself and stepped farther in, squinting to see something. The door behind her slammed shut, pitching her into utter darkness. Willa spun, pounding on the door with the palms of her hands.

"OPEN UP! PLEASE!" Willa screamed for the woman to hear her, hoping it was a mistake that she was trapped in here. An unseen wall pushed up from behind her, trapping her in a box. Willa beat on the walls, screaming until she was horse. There was some sort of mistake, she wasn't sure if she was saying that out loud or if her screams were just screams anymore. She clawed at the seams of the box, her fingers burning against the cool stone. She didn't understand and that panicked her even more.

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**Thank you so much for those of you who read this far! I will be uploading the second chapter soon but would love to hear what you guys think so far :) This is the first I've written in a long while and I'm trying to get back into writing on a regular basis and I thought I'd start with a game that I still love to play even after all these years.**


	2. Chapter 2

Willa screamed until her voice was just a horse gasping noise, her face wet with tears. In the small space she sank down, she felt tired, curling sideways in the space she put her forehead to her knees. Willa breathed deep, no longer able to pound on the door.

She wasn't sure how long she sat in total silence, watching the darkness right in front of her eyes. Then in the distance she thought she heard a sound, like a light clink. Willa listened for it and sure enough another clink from the distance. Pressing her ear to the door she listened for it again, praying it wasn't just her mind playing tricks on her again. Now the sounds were muffled but more frequent, clinking and shuffling and muffled voices.

"HEY!" Willa found the energy to pound on the door again, her voice raspy but loud. "I'M HERE! LET ME OUT! LET ME OUT!" Willa pounded on the door as the sounds began to die down. "DON'T LEAVE ME HERE!"

The seal on the door broke, sliding slowly. Willa stepped back as far as she could, shielding her eyes against the dim light. Relief flooded her, Willa threw herself forward and wrapped her arms around her savior. "Thank you, thank you!" She hugged the stranger tightly, grateful to be free.

She was yanked back by the hood of her sweater though, and she looked up to see who she was embracing. It was a giant of a man, blonde hair, a long scar running down his cheek and into the neck of his leather shirt. Willa released him, aware of how upset he looked to see her. Angrily he snapped something at her in a language that she didn't understand. Willa felt small as he pushed her to the side and checked the coffin that she had been in, unsure what he was looking for.

Stumbling to the side on cramped legs Willa looked around the room. No longer was she in the cramped little store, now the room opened up into a carved stone room. Pillars along each wall and what appeared to be a throne sat in front of her. Willa rubbed her face, confused. The man yelled something to the other side of the room, an equally deep voice answering him back. Willa practically fell down the stairs, she felt like she was dreaming, she absolutely had to be dreaming. There was no other explanation for this.

The second man now came into view, he was equally large, dressed in similar leather, with a hefty sized sword dangling beside him. Angrily he kicked a skeleton. How hadn't she seen them, Willa whipped around, the bodies were everywhere. Willa squealed as she noticed one was right next to her, clambering to get up into the throne.

The two men, seemingly ignoring her, continued to bark things at one another. The man by the door seemed in a much better mood than his friend. Willa watched as the two came together to talk, the first man motioning dismissably towards her. The second one looked at her and said something, perhaps thinking she would answer. Willa stood on the chair, gripping the back, unable to answer. The were both looking at her now, the first one saying something now. Obviously expecting a response.

"I…I…don't know what's happening." Willa finally croaked. Her heart beat painfully against her ribs as she tried not to look at the dead bodies all around her.

The men turned towards each other again, this time with less anger and more confusion. They threw her glances, disagreeing on something she wasn't sure about. Willa looked about the room now, almost ready to ask them to seal her back in the coffin and perhaps she would be let out back in the old shop. Willa looked for the door to get out, it was over a sea of bodies, then back to the coffin, then finally to the men. She honestly had no idea what she needed to do.

The first man, met her gaze, reluctantly he sighed and threw a venomous look to his companion before approaching her. He spoke quickly, but his tone was less anger now and a bit softer. Still she stared at him, unsure what he was saying.

"What do you want?" She asked, knowing full well he didn't understand her. The pair stared at each other in silence.

Finally he clenched his jaw, pointing to himself, then to her, then to the door. He wanted to leave. Willa looked over the bodies and felt her empty stomach turn in disgust, she shook her head. To her surprise the man growled in frustration, apparently understanding what shaking her head meant. Before she could process that realization the man grabbed her, wrapping one of his massive hands around her thigh and the other on her waist, easily launching her onto his shoulder.

Willa shrieked but grabbed onto the leather straps on the back of his jacket, afraid she might slip over the back and fall on her face. The pair were already moving, Willa was too distracted by the bodies that they were stepping over to argue. Their faces were mummified and angry, little bits and pieces of armor still on some of their bodies, swords still in their hands. The man carried her through passage ways, some of them seemed like nothing more than just spaces between fallen stones, yet others were fast and large.

In the darkness of a rough cut passageway Willa saw the glimmer of something move. Squinting in the darkness she watched the torch light reflect off metal behind them. A guttural cough in the distance confused her. Willa stiffened as the creature stepped closer to the torch. One of the bodies she'd seen on the floor followed them, it's taunt mummified jaw fell open and the rasping sound filled the hallway.

"Oh my god!" Willa struggled on the man's shoulder. "Behind you!" She shrieked smacking the back of his head as the mummy drew its sword and began charging at them. It's empty eyes and slack jaw the last thing she saw as the man dropped her and drew his own sword.

Willa hit the ground with a thud, but the shock of seeing a dead body come to life brought life back to her. Jumping up Willa ran in the opposite direction, darting around the second man. He managed to snag her hood, yanking her back and chocking her as she fell to the ground. The second man knelt next to her saying something over and over. Willa ignored him, turning to see the first man sheathing his sword already. The first man motioned for the pair to continue, Willa stood obediently. If her choice were between those dead things and these two men, well she chose to be with them.

* * *

Erik glowered as they made their way back through the passageways to the surface. This cavern had been a bust. The men at The Ragged Flagon were going to taste his steel when he found them again. Surely they had sent him here in jest, boasting about a cavern that had the greatest treasure Skyrim had to offer.

This woman. He watched as she recoiled at the sound of mere stones falling from the walls as Farkas ran his hand along the stone before turning a corner ahead of them. He had argued with the man, at first wanting to leave the girl here, surely this girl wasn't the treasure that the men spoke of.

There was a bit of mystery though, the clothes she wore were unlike any he had seen before, and the language she spoke didn't sound like anything from around here. Perhaps there was an adventure to be had. The gods knew that Erik had grown bored with the usual tasks they sent him on. Kill this, free this, clear this temple, bring me this, he could only do it for so long before he wanted to rip his hair out.

This little bit of mystery wouldn't stop him from finding those liars from before though, no one got to lie to him and get away with it. Erik felt a fresh breeze on his face, the entrance was getting close, the girl must have felt it as well, her head perking up, bouncing her brunette curls.

"Were should we go first?" Farkas rumbled from the front, the girl jumped at his sudden turn towards Erik.

"We need to pay a little visit to the men who sent us on this journey." Erik watched as the girl looked back and forth between the two, pitiful and lost.

"And what of the woman?" Farkas asked, eyeing her curiously.

Erik clenched his jaw, he didn't have an answer for that, he scratched his head then shook it. "I don't really know where to start with her."

"That's a first," Farkas barked a laugh, turning to leave. He was right, Erik always had a sort of intuition about these sorts of things, like an inner list of what the next step is for his quests, but with her, he felt blank.

"Perhaps this will be a fun little mystery to solve," Erik smiled as they finally opened the door to Skyrim.

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**Two full chapters to start this story off. I'm hoping everyone who takes the time to read it gets to this chapter, I'm endlessly excited to explore this with the readers and hope you guys enjoy it as well.**


	3. Chapter 3

Light blinded Willa, she put her hands up to block it as they exited the caves. Blinking while her eyes adjusted she heard the familiar sound of birds singing, looking around she saw trees. The men seemed unfazed, talking to one another as they walked down the stony path in front of them. Willa's legs felt stiff as she followed behind them. She had no idea what else to do at this point.

She licked her dry lips and stumbled to catch up, afraid in fact, that she might lose them in the woods. Willa wanted to be shocked that the trees that towered over them took the place of the buildings that she was so used to seeing. Willa wanted to ask a hundred questions. Willa wanted to curl in a ball and go catatonic. Instead she dumbly followed behind them, hoping against hope that they let her keep following.

Willa followed them silently until the sun began to touch the mountain tops in the distance. They slowed down, selecting a section of ground near an overhanging rock wall. The first blonde man surveyed the area, talking with the second man, they agreed that this was a good area she assumed. Willa stood there watching them set up their camp, at a lose for what she should do.

The first man tossed her a look, before meeting the other guys gaze. They also didn't seem like they knew what to do with her. The second guy sort of shrugged before bending over a fire, trying to get it to spark.

The first man walked over to her, Willa watched him struggle with how to approach her.

"Erik," the man said, pointing to himself, then pointing to her.

"Erik?" Willa pointed to him then to herself.

The man scrunched his face and shook his head, which she knew meant no. "Erik," he motioned to himself again, "Farkas," he motioned to the other man, who nodded over his shoulder, a small flame already blooming.

Her name, they wanted her name, "Willa," she motioned to herself.

Erik watched her hands, dropping his eyes and returning to the fire. Willa looked down and nearly gasped. In the midst of all the panic and confusion she hadn't noticed what she'd done to her hands while trying to escape the coffin. All of her nails were broken and split, blood and dirt crusting her hands. Even her clothes were stained where she must have wiped her hands without realizing it. The throbbing pain beginning to become noticeable now that she felt herself calming down.

Willa balled up her fists and looked around, unsure how to fix this. She could hear water. Willa watched Erik searching through a small bag while Farkas got the fire going to a decent size. They didn't seem like they were going anywhere very quickly. Willa slipped through the trees, happy to see the stream wasn't very far from them, in fact she could still see little bits of the fire.

Dipping her hands into the water burned the cuts she'd acquired, the icy temperature numbing them slowly. Willa scrubbed, her hands turning red, but thankfully clean. She watched the clear cold water running over her hands, she'd never seen water so clean before. There was no way she could compare it to anything from the city, not even the fountain water in the fancy plazas were this clear. As she watched the water running over her hands she felt thirsty. Willa bit her lip and turned back to see if the men were watching but she was alone. Willa knew she shouldn't, she knew Bear Grylls always said that drinking unfiltered water could make you sick, but damn him. She cupped the water and brought it up to drink, her dry throat and chapped lips burning like her hands. It was the best water she'd ever tasted. Willa drank more and more, surprised at how thirsty she felt.

"Willa," one of men said from directly behind her.

Willa gasped, inhaling the water into her lungs and coughing, she fell forward putting out her arms to catch herself but landing face first in the water. Gasping Willa bolted up, the arms of her sweater soaked all the way to the arm pits and the extra material on her sweater drenched, it stuck to her stomach when she stood.

"Don't sneak up on me!" Willa gasped, kicking herself since she realized he wouldn't understand anyways.

Regardless of him finding her slurping water from a river, Erik offered her a small vial, miming for her to drink the contents. Willa nodded her acknowledgment and he nodded back. Under normal circumstances Willa wouldn't dream of drinking a strange vial of anything given to her by a man wearing all leather in the woods. As he walked away, she caught herself watching the way it was molded to him incredible broad shoulders. Willa shook her head and turned back to the stream, popping the cork.

"Bottoms up," Willa sighed to herself before taking it like a shot. What was the worse that could happen at this point anyways?

Erik sank down next to Farkas on the ground by the fire. The heat felt nice on his face and he had to admit he was rather tired. Erik thankfully had already set up three bed rolls under the over hang so the group could sleep for the night. He could tell it wasn't going to rain but one could never be too sure, waking up to a downpour was about as miserable as it could get.

Willa ran through the trees, as if something was chasing her, her eyes wild. Erik and Farkas were on their feet in a split second, blades in hand. Farkas sniffed the air, his brow furrowing. Erik Aura Whispered, but the only living being he found were the den of rabbits from before and a few fish in the stream. The two men exchanged confused glances.

Willa on the other hand charged up to Erik, making him take a step back when she pushed her hands in his face. He'd seen the damage done, so he'd given her a healing potion, nothing big or special.

"Yes," Erik nodded, pushing her hands out of his face, she continued to examine them, in awe. Not only were the split nails broken but her face was no longer pale and taunt like before, now her cheeks had a bit of a red hint to them.

"What's going on?" Farkas asked falling back to the ground to push the logs around the fire.

"It's like she'd never seen a healing potion before," Erik followed, resting back down and sheathing his blade. "Where do you think she could have come from?"

"Beats me," Farkas rummaged around in his pack and pulled out some bread and cheese, handing a chunk of each to Willa, who watched with amazement at where the cheese came from. Farkas furrowed his brow, uncomfortable with how much attention the girl was giving him. "Tomorrow we will get to The Ragged Flaggon and who knows, maybe they have some sort of clue for us."

Erik watched Willa devour her portion, wondering how long the girl was in that drauger burial spot. Then she looked at him and for the first time that day, she smiled. Erik didn't look away immediately. She was pretty, in a soft and innocent way, something that wasn't common here in Skyrim. Her hands, now that they were healed, didn't look like they'd put in much of a hard days work in a long while, though a few of her fingertips looked fairly calloused. Her hair was shorter than most women kept it, falling just below her chin. Her race was a bit of a mix, he could only assume she had Breton features in her face, a bit more delicate, but her hair was definitely Imperial.

"What's this then?" Farkas smirked looking between Erik and Willa.

"What's what?" Erik grumbled, shifting around to look back at the fire quickly.

"Ahh, don't play dumb with me, I seen how you two were smilin' at each other," Farkas scoffed, looking all too proud of himself.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Erik stood, glowering at his friend. He wasn't smiling, perhaps he was just intrigued with his first real mystery in what felt like a lifetime. "I'm turning in for the night, keep an eye on her."

Willa was watching him, he could feel it, he just didn't know how to talk with her, or explain what was going on. Erik rolled over so his back was to the fire, he wondered exactly what she meant or if he was missing something obvious. So many times, he'd had to bring a person from point A to point B on some sort of quest, but this was the first time they weren't able to tell him where they needed to go.

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**I know it was a bit of a slow start, but I promise the next chapter is where some of the action will begin, new characters will be introduced, and a whole different sort of fun! For everyone who has read to this point, thank you thank you thank you!**


	4. Chapter 4

**In order to keep the language difference from being too confusing, English will be in Italics, as she learns the language it will change to regular text. I'm hoping this works but if it's confusing let me know :)**

The sun woke Willa the next morning, not that she had slept incredibly well anyways. While she had found herself situated between the two men, she hadn't been able to relax, regardless of how tired she'd felt. Willa sat up, she wrapped her arms around herself and dropped her head to the ground, folding in on herself. Even with her sweater she had been cold, she'd tried pulling her arms into her sweater, curling in on herself, even tucking her knees into her sweater, but the cold just wouldn't leave her.

Erik and Farkas began moving around as well. Willa, groggy from not sleeping well shifted off her sleeping mat and began rolling it up. Perhaps if she got moving, she'd lose the chill that permeated to her bones. Willa left the two men, walking a little ways into the woods and back to the little creek. She drank again from the waters, not feeling ill from the night before, then sat back on a rock. These woods sounded like a relaxing CD from a spa, water churning, birds singing, and no matter how hard Willa strained, she couldn't hear a single car or human noise.

"Willa!" Erik snapped her name, grabbing her by the upper arm. He was growling something to her she couldn't understand. Yanking her off the boulder and dragging her back to the camp.

_"Stop!" _Willa planted her feet, panicked by this sudden outburst from him. She buried her teeth into his hand before she could think better of it.

Erik let go, she had broken his skin only slightly, but he looked more shocked than hurt. Willa took a step back, her bottom lip quivering lightly, she bit the inside of her mouth to keep herself from the unexpected tears. She hadn't done anything wrong, she wrapped her arms around herself and refused to look at Erik. Again he said something to her.

_"I don't understand what you're saying,"_ Willa breathed, finally looking up at him.

Erik's jaw clenched and he breathed in a deep slow breath, then pointed to her and then to the camp. Willa dropped her eyes, she felt like a scolded child, but stomped her way around him back to the camp. If that's all he needed, he hadn't needed to grab her so roughly. Farkas smiled to her as she approached and she returned the gesture, though it was somewhat pinched.

The camp was packed already and the two men grumbled something low to one another, almost as if they were worried she might overhear. They hiked down through the woods, Willa busied herself watching the surrounding areas. She hadn't spent much time in the woods growing up, so looking around she didn't know if the trees were native species to New York or not. Willa bit her lip, she didn't like having all this time to think about everything, at this rate she was liable to start panicking.

* * *

Riften, Erik looked around to the buildings, some of which were floating on the water. It wasn't his favorite place to be, but it wasn't as bad as Solitude. Erik strode through the streets, the market place vendors were beginning to close up shop and scurry away before dark.

He was eager to get a hold of the man that had sent him on this godforsaken mission to begin with. Looking over his shoulder he saw Willa, mouth open looking at the people around them. Surely this was some sort of act. He trotted down a set of stairs to the city's underbelly.

"Erik," Farkas called from the top, distracted by something happening.

"What?" Erik grumbled, following his companions gaze.

It was Willa, she'd wandered off. Leaning against a railing she was staring unabashedly at Madesi, who hadn't seemed to notice her yet. Erik groaned. This was becoming ridiculous.

"Willa," Erik snapped. The girl turned wide eyed and looked at him, shock painted across her face. He motioned for her to follow, and after another glance to Madesi she obeyed. "I'm going to kill him," Erik grumbled.

"Careful now," Farkas wrenched open the Ratways door and screwed up his nose. "Answers first remember." Farkas didn't like the Thieves Guild, he had never hidden his distain for the whole lot of them from Erik. Not only were they dishonorable in Farkas's mind but the Ratways themselves stunk to the werewolves keen senses.

"Why don't you wait here?" Erik offered to Farkas, making sure Willa got to the door without falling in the water.

"What, and miss all the fun?" Farkas gave Erik a crooked smile before ducking inside, obviously hoping this was going to end in bloodshed.

Willa hesitated, but the foul air didn't seem to bother her as much, she ducked in behind Farkas darting to catch up. Erik took up the rear, the ambiance inside had once made him nervous, but now it was just tiresome, he didn't even bother drawing his blade anymore.

In fact, Erik rushed through here so quickly that he'd forgotten all about the execution block that was set up in one of the rooms. That was until Willa shrieked, jumping back from the dead man still sprawled out in the grass and running straight into him. Erik opened his mouth to say it was ok, but closed it knowing it wouldn't do any good. Unable to think of anything else he awkwardly pat the top of her head.

Farkas barked a laugh, "perhaps we shouldn't have brought her along."

"I don't have time for this," Erik grumbled, nudging Willa along. He should have left her at Honeyside, although with his luck something would have gone wrong there as well. Willa skirted as far around the body as she could, one of her hands still on Erik's chest.

Erik looked up to Farkas who grinned and glanced down to Willa's hand. "Just leave it be," Erik said, brushing Willa's hand away. She muttered something he couldn't understand, but thankfully she ducked through the door and stopped stalling.

Finally in the Ragged Flagon, Erik felt like it had taken ages to reach this point. He pushed past the two, searching for the shrimp of a man that had tricked him into this. "You watch her," Erik growled as he passed Farkas.

Then he saw him, sitting at one of the tables, flagon of ale in hand. Erik ignored a few friendly greetings and made for the man. The man saw Erik approaching, he even stood to greet him, at first jovial, then changing to uncertain. Erik snatched the smaller man's shirt in both his fists, lifting him from the floor and slamming the guy down onto the table.

"What the—" the man started, his eyes wide.

"Do you think what you did was funny?" Erik said through clenched teeth, he picked the guy up and slammed him into a pillar. "Do you think that was a good idea?"

"I don't know what you're talking about!" The man shrieked, he looked around for help but Erik didn't take his eyes off the man.

"That little quest you told me about," Erik growled through his teeth, "you said there would be a blessing."

"Yes! Yes!" The man struggled to pull Erik's hands off his shirt. "A blessing from Mara inside a tomb!"

Erik yanked the man forward and around the pillar letting go with one hand and grabbing his chin and forcing him to look at Willa. "That's what I found. Does that look like a blessing to you? Looks like a burden to me." Willa was watching Erik, her face pale, and her hands gripped in Farkas's jacket sleeve. Erik tore his eyes away from her, and back to the man. The man pried at Erik's fingers on his chin. "What am I supposed to do with her?" Erik snapped as he let his jaw go.

"I don't know!" The man admitted. "When I opened it there was an enchanted bow. Maybe this is Mara's idea of a joke. I would never mess with you like this." The man was visibly shaken with how this was turning out, actually pretty pathetic looking. Erik knew this guy would never have the courage to actually try to trick him. "Please believe me, I wouldn't ever think of crossing the Dragonborn."

Erik tossed the man to the side and he stumbled, falling to the ground behind the table. If that was that, then what should he do next?

"Well what's going on here?" Delvin strode up to the pair. "You're puttin on quite a show here Boss."

It was a loaded statement. Erik eyed the man as he stood there, uncertain what to do. For the first time he looked around to see all eyes were on him, everyone looking equally conflicted. There was a rule about killing another thief in the guild, it was basically the only way to get thrown out. On the other hand Erik was the Guildmaster and no one knew if you could throw the Guildmaster out.

"Nothings going on, just a little dispute," Erik brushed off the man and followed Delvin away from the table, watching the tension leaving his shoulders. "I don't like that guy."

Delvin snorted a laugh, "no one likes that guy, doesn't stop him from being a good thief." The pair stopped before the door to the Cistern, "but might I ask what brought about this little episode?"

Erik crossed his arms, "he told me about a cavern that held a blessing for anyone that could pass the trials. Mara's Gift he called it. When I got there though, instead of a blessing I found a girl."

"Is she cute?" Delvin asked bouncing his eyebrows.

Erik leaned back on his heels and rolled his eyes. "That's not really the point. The point is she doesn't speak the language, she's dressed all weird, and I don't think she's ever seen an Argonian before because she was open mouth gaping at Madsei earlier."

"Well Madsei is one ugly bloke in her defense." Delvin admitted. Erik glared at him. "Which isn't the point, like you said. Maybe this is a blessing though."

Erik turned to leave, scanning the crowd for Farkas and Willa.

"Wait, hear me out," Delvin grabbed his shoulder. "Maybe this is a blessing because it's difficult."

Erik furrowed his brow, "what do you mean?"

"I mean come on, you're the Dragonborn, Guildmaster for us, Thane of seven holds, Harbinger of the Companions, Listerner for the Dark Brotherhood, Arch-mage of the College of Winterhold, Dragonslayer, Vampireslayer, Champion of the Nine Devines and—"

"Your point," Erik interrupted or they might be there all day.

"My point is, what's left?" Delvin finally said. "Skyrim is running out of titles and quests that might interest you. Maybe this girl is a gift because she'll give you something to do."

He had a point, Erik mulled over the possibilities. He'd never actually failed any of the quests he'd been given, how hard could this be. "I suppose if I could kill the World-Eater, I could figure out what to do with some girl."

"That's the spirit!" Delvin clapped Erik on the shoulder. "Now how about you let me meet this mystery woman?"

Erik turned to find them, spotting Farkas glaring at a pair of thieves that were antagonizing him, and Willa nowhere to be seen. He took it back. This was going to be much harder than killing Alduin.

* * *

**Thanks for reading!**


	5. Chapter 5

Willa leaned on the railing outside the tunnels. She'd run past the dead body, hell she was from New York, she tried to comfort herself by reminding herself this probably wasn't the first dead body she'd walked past. Her stomach rolled at the thought of what happened to that man. She clambered up the stairs after catching her breath, she was scared.

Dark had fallen quickly over the town. The streetlights she was used to were replaced by torches. The concrete buildings that towered around her constantly were replaced by small wooden or stone homes. The constant light pollution was replaced by thousands of stars. None of the buildings looked familiar, Willa stumbled across a wooden bridge, she wrapped her arms around herself and stared at the wooden structures. Once, a long time ago she felt she'd seen something like these when she visited a historic village during school.

A man in armor passed by her, saying something and narrowing his eyes at her. Willa could only back away, farther from the tunnels she'd been in. The guard looked around the dark streets then back to her, talking to her. Willa shook her head confused. The man took a step towards her. Her heart skipped a beat and Willa turned, yanking open the closest door and disappearing inside.

The room held several rows of benches and the torch light was low. A church. Willa slunk along the back wall, trying to sink into the shadows. Thankfully the door didn't reopen.

Exhausted, Willa leaned her back against the wall, sliding down till her forehead rested on her knees. She wrapped her arms around her legs, she could hear the torches crackling. She focused on her breathing, four seconds in, hold, four seconds out, hold. After calming down for a moment she looked up, her head back against the wall.

Everything that was happening was happening for a reason, but no matter how she could think of it, nothing made sense. This doesn't just happen to people, being transported somewhere random. Nothing made sense here, that lizard person from earlier was still blowing her mind. Could it be true? Could there really be lizard people? Was that person a politician? Was that a lizard that looked like a man or a man that looked like a lizard? It was exhausting having so many questions and no way to ask them.

Willa tried to refocus on breathing, trying to clear her mind, but Erik and Farkas were constantly invading it. Who were they? How did they find her? But most important, what did they want with her? Surely there was something they wanted, or they could have just left her there in the woods.

She clamped her hands over her ears trying to block out the constant questions that had no answers. Erik was mad, she could see that, he was mad about her, but then why drag her around? Was he mad at her? About her? Did he think she knew that man? Would he hurt her? Lord knew if he wanted to, he could.

Beside her the door opened and Willa gripped her legs again, praying she was small enough that she might disappear into the shadow. She didn't look away from the floor in front of her feet, she didn't need to. Erik knelt next to her, saying something in hushed tones.

Willa's heart hammered against her ribs, but she didn't look at him, she was afraid to look at him. More than that though, she realized she was in fact, afraid of him. She bit the inside of her cheek as a rush of emotion washed over her.

"Willa," his voice was soft. He wanted her to look at him, but she couldn't.

* * *

Erik stood, turning to talk to Farkas. Willa didn't know what to do. Go out into a world that she didn't know how anything about or stay with men that might hate her. Willa squeezed her legs until it hurt. Erik was so hot and cold, acting nice, then grabbing her, acting nice, then yelling about her. What was the answer?

"What are we going to do?" Erik could feel a headache starting.

"I'm not the one that scared her," Farkas shrugged his shoulders.

"You were the one all excited about spilling blood," Erik grumbled. They'd only found her so fast because they'd overheard a guard grumbling about a strange woman running around.

"And yet here we are," Farkas grumbled, still apparently upset it hadn't ended that way. "Maybe if we'd killed one or two, she wouldn't have run."

Erik leveled his companion with an exhausted look. This exchange wasn't helping them at all, and that reasoning made no sense. Erik gazed at the shrine of Mara, he was undoubtably disappointed in all of this, and it was Mara's fault, nonetheless he couldn't be angry with her. In fact, he was hoping that she might somehow enlighten him on the right thing to do. If Mara were here, he was sure she would be able to comfort Willa. Inspiration struck. Mara might not be here, but Dinya Balu was, perhaps another woman might make Willa more comfortable.

"Dinya Balu!" Erik called, and just as he suspected the woman turned the corner.

"Dragonborn, I thought I heard your ruckus," Dinya Balu looked annoyed but polite. "I was about to turn in with my husband, but I can spare a minute."

"Thank you," Erik smiled to the woman, "I'm hoping you would help comfort a stranger we came across. She doesn't speak our language and seems upset."

Dinya Balu's eye's flashed to the woman and they softened, before regarding him once again. "Might I ask what exactly your intentions are with her?"

"We found her in a tomb, we were supposed to find a gift from Mara…" Farkas blurted out, Erik shot him a look, daring him to finish. "Instead Erik found the girl." Farkas raised an eyebrow to Erik, daring him back to do something about his confession.

Dinya Balu's eyes flashed to the amulet of Mara that hung around Erik's neck, her entire demeanor changing. "Through your time here in Riften you've helped Mara a fair number of times. I'm sure she would wish you happy. I'll see if I can relay to her that you are friendly." She knelt in front of Willa.

Erik tucked the amulet away while turning to Farkas. "We need a plan for how to teach her our language, for all we know the secret Mara has is just trapped in this language barrier."

"You're the one with all the friends, find one of the smart ones and dump her on him for a while," Farkas shrugged. Erik was surprised with how reasonable the suggestion was.

"Well…yeah, that's a pretty good idea," Erik admitted, trying to think through people who might be a good fit.

"You seem surprised I have good ideas, my ideas are always good, for instance it isn't too late to kill a thief or two" Farkas crossed his arms.

The two women were standing now, Dinya Balu had her hands on Willa's shoulders, Willa was staring at her wide eyed. Erik had the funny feeling Willa hadn't seen a Dunmer before. Dinya Balu seemed unfazed though, turning Willa to face the two men.

"I'm not sure if she understood anything, but will you promise me that you'll look after her and keep her safe?" Dinya Balu looked at Erik seriously, her red eyes searching his.

"Yes," Erik said, holding her gaze until she seemed satisfied.

"Then off you go," Dinya Balu gently pushed Willa towards the men and she stumbled obediently. "Make sure you cherish each other!" She called after. Erik gritted his teeth so he didn't snap back at her and held the door open.

* * *

Willa stumbled out the door. She couldn't unsee that woman. Her ashen skin, her pointed features, and most notably her red eyes. She looked like a demon…but she'd acted kind. Everything in this place made no sense. Her mind was spinning so fast she hadn't realized that they'd entered a house until Farkas was handing her a wooden bowl filled with food. She stared at the contents, bread like before, heavy and dry, cheese, hard and sharp, and some small animal leg.

She was still holding her bowl as Erik showed her downstairs, passed some glowing table and into a small room. There was a bed covered in animal furs, a wardrobe, and the door shut behind her. Willa stared at the bed, her exhaustion weighing her down. Perhaps if she slept then everything would become clear in the morning.

"We have to find someone to teach her the language," Erik stomped up the stairs and back to Farkas.

Farkas looked up, his mouth full of food.

Erik slumped down in the chair opposite his companion. He didn't have the patience to teach her, he barely had the patience to get her in her room. Erik snagged a sweet roll off the table and popped a chunk of it in his mouth. Would she be warm enough down there? He'd thought about letting her sleep up here in the main room but thought the privacy down there would be better. It would also be easier to keep track of her.

"What about the Bard's College?" Farkas asked.

"What?" Erik broke from his thought about if he should check on Willa.

"What about the Bard's College, didn't you do something there, some sort of talking thing?" Farkas asked again.

It wasn't a bad idea, he was after all, a member there and had done enough that they owed him a favor or two. On the other hand, it was all the way on the other side of Skyrim, he wasn't sure how she was with traveling those distances. Erik chewed on another chunk of sweet roll.

"Perhaps before we go that far we could stop by Winterhold, perhaps Mikael might be able to help us out a bit." Erik suggested.

Farkas grinned from ear to ear, Erik knew his companion would be happy about stopping by Winterhold. If Mikael wasn't able to help out, then he might think about taking the trip to Solitude.

* * *

**Thank you so much for reading this new Chapter!**


	6. Chapter 6

Unable to sleep or feel her feet anymore, Willa pulled the door open peeking into the basement. Beside her a table glowed with green liquid, Willa had never actually seen a meth lab, but she imagined it looked somewhat similar.

She ran her hands up and down her arms trying to fight back the chill. She had lived in New York, she could live anywhere she told herself, she just needed to get that frame of mind back. Willa ignored the meth and tried to go up the stairs but stopped. Another table glowed from the other room corner. Willa cautiously approached it. The table was black stone, rows of melting candles lined the back along with a glowing green orb. What drew her attention was the blue glowing symbols and the massive skull with horns. Its eyes stared empty back at her. Meth was one thing, but this was some real Blair Witch shit happening.

"Willa," the skull said.

Willa shot into the air, jumping back from the table, she shrieked hitting something solid. Willa covered her raging heart with her hand as she hit the wall next and realized it was only Erik, not the skull that called her name.

_"You scared me!"_ Willa breathed deep, _"how are you so quiet for someone your size."_

Erik looked around uncomfortable. Then pointed upstairs. Willa nodded understanding.

Farkas sat at the table looking at the fire, he smiled, saying something to them.

Willa hesitated, she repeated his greeting to see if the men shook their heads or laughed. They didn't, in fact Farkas nodded and flashed her a smile. Willa went and stood next to the fire, the heat melting some of her anxiety. "Good Morning," she repeated the phrase to herself.

* * *

"She didn't eat her dinner," Erik sat.

"Maybe she didn't like being shut in a room in the basement?" Farkas suggested without looking up, hinting that he'd been thinking about it already.

"What do you want to say to me?" Erik said blatantly.

Farkas looked back at Willa, who was still warming her back, then turned back to Erik. "Why are you treating her like some sort of enemy or prisoner?" Farkas sat back in his chair, not giving Erik the proper amount of time to answer. "I know she's different, and a little weird, but you're acting like she needs to be at arms distance, like she might bite."

"She did bite," Erik held out his hand, the mark barely noticeable but there.

"What did you do?" Farkas asked.

"Why do you assume it was my fault?" Erik snapped.

Farkas raised an eyebrow. "If you had to guess who would you think was at fault? Look at her, she's a sweetroll, it's you that needs to lighten up." He bit into his bread as if to say this was over.

Erik shook his head, he hated to admit he was wrong, but Farkas has a point. Willa was obviously lost and confused, and he wasn't making it much easier. "Fine, but you have to stop with the jokes about me and her."

"Deal, speaking of which, I think you should get her some new clothes, she looks pretty weird." Farkas popped the rest of the bread in his mouth and stood.

"Where are you going?" Erik stood with him.

"I'm just going to give you two some privacy," Farkas joked as he left, waving to Willa.

"This attitude is exactly why I don't bring Vilkas with me," Erik snapped loud enough he was sure the man heard him.

Erik considered his options clothing wise. The wardrobe was absolutely ram packed full of clothes and accessories that he'd found while out and about and hadn't bothered to sell yet. He watched Willa stretch her thin arms closer to the fire, nothing too heavy or it might break her in half, nothing too cold or she might not make the trip. He settled on giving her a mage outfit that had a frost resistance, and for good measure threw in a water breathing amulet. When he tried to hand them over, she looked confused, then reluctantly she took the clothes, her shoulders drooping.

He sat back down to wait. Which if he were honest seemed to take forever, and a bit too much bumping and crashing for his liking.

"Erik," she said finally, giving him permission to turn around.

He turned and without meaning to he snorted then stifled a laugh. This style of clothes was obviously lost on her. Her pants hung a bit loose, and the legs weren't wrapped into the boots. The shirt it looked like she gave up on and tied the bottom ends together at her belly button and the shoulder cloth was knotted around her waist like a belt. The best part was her face, dressed all sorts of wrong, yet a proud grin lit her up like the sun.

"Ok," he said to her, but he knew he couldn't let her leave looking like this. "This," he pointed to the shoulder wrap she had tied around her waist, "no." He said it as easy as he could, her smile slipping away. "Off."

Willa narrowed her eyes in confusion.

Erik grabbed a cup and showed it to her, he set it on the table. "On," then he picked it up, "off, on, off." Erik repeated.

Willa's eyes lit up with understanding, she pointed to the belt, "off," she took off the belt and Erik sighed with relief, until she retied it as a hood. "On?" She pointed to her hips, "off," she pointed up.

"No, not UP, off," Erik groaned. He tapped his foot and watched her fidget with her hood, getting it comfortable. By the river the other day he'd tried to help lead her back to the camp and she'd gotten upset, biting him, so he didn't want to repeat that, but if he didn't do something this was going to go on all day. Unsure what else to do, he tested the waters by reaching towards her slowly, letting her pull away if she wanted, but she stood still.

* * *

Willa was embarrassed to say the least. She had thought she was wearing these clothes in the way they made the most sense, but contrary to that thought Erik seemed annoyed with her. Then he did something weird. He reached his hands towards her slowly, so very slowly that Willa thought he might be under the impression that he was trying to go unnoticed.

Then when he finally touched the knot on her hood, he sighed in relief. Willa tried to tell herself that perhaps that's how men were supposed to act around women here. Though quickly enough she felt reduced to that of a toddler as he fixed all the ties and such as if she were helpless.

His grabbed her side pulling the shirt tight and Willa doubled over, barking a laugh. She covered her mouth quickly standing back up, heat spreading across her face. He'd tickled her. Erik shook his head and tried again, Willa tried not to pull away, but the tickling was too much and she pulled away from his hand again. This time he'd had enough time to pull everything where it belonged.

He moved to the new boots that she'd put on, wrapping her calves with the loose cloth. He didn't look at her, but she thought she saw a bit of red creeping up the back of his neck as well.

Then he motioned for her to put her clothes in the small side bag that was tied to her pants, before bolting out the door. Willa scoffed at the thought. There was no way all her clothes would fit in this little thing. She put her began shoving her sweater in just to humor him and the whole thing slid in easily, hesitantly she reached in pulling it back out. Then she remembered the cheese from the other night Farkas had pulled out, and the magic potion. This place was legit magic!

Excited this time Willa shoved all her clothes in the bag. Looking around she shoved food from the table in there as well, then from the side table a random golden coin, a few bottles of what might be wine, candle sticks, and some things she didn't quite recognize. She patted her bag on her hip, stepping out of the house and hoping whatever came next would be a good surprise.

Outside Farkas extended his hand, giving her something. An apple. Willa was amazed by the apple, she bit into it and had to admit it didn't taste far off from the ones she had eaten back home. She followed the men, swallowing down a lump that was forming in her throat. She was surprised with how relived she felt once they were outside the city. Willa ate her apple slow, savoring it, trying to enjoy the walk.

* * *

**Thank you for anyone that has read this far. I know that it seems like the story has been progressing a bit slow, but I'm trying to make sure I am not glossing over the drastic change in environment that Willa is going through. This cultural change and language barrier will be an ever present change for her and is something that has massive effects of a person.**

**That being said, I'll definitely try to keep it from making the story boring and hopefully the pace picks up as she begins to grow accustom to the world she is in now.**

**Thank you!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Good Day out there! As I'm sure all of you know it has been CRAZY out in the world right now! Half of us are stuck in our house and the other half of us are essential and can barely go home. With that being said I hope a new chapter helps bring a bit of light to someone out there as writing it has helped me get back in my routine! Thanks!**

* * *

The Inn that they were staying at was nice. Willa munched on an apple that was left in her room as she made her way to the stairs and back to the sitting area. It was crazy to think how different it was here in a tavern than back home in a hotel. Here Erik got each of them separate rooms instead of just sleeping on different beds, and apparently no one stayed in their rooms to relax. The dining area/lobby was pretty busy, at least by the standards she was used to by now.

Movement in a small room off to the side caught her eye. Willa hesitated as she passed, watching the scene. A woman, from the style of her dress Willa assumed she was one of the ladies working here, was smiling uncomfortably at a man who had his back turned towards Willa. Willa looked around to see if anyone else was around, but she was the only one. The man grabbed the woman's arm and she snatched it back, her fake smile still in place. Willa straitened up. She couldn't understand what the two were saying but she understood the tones of voices. Willa launched the apple at the man, missing him entirely.

Aggravated nonetheless at the interruption, the man turned and snapped something at her, the woman trying to skirt around him to safety. The man snagged her arm again and pushed her a step back into the room. The woman flashed her a 'thanks for trying' look.

Willa snatched an apple platter off the dresser, the sound of the clattering apples confusing the man, he turned just in time to catch the hard wood upside the face.

The woman stood, mouth open in shock, the man stumbled but didn't fall. For a moment Willa was afraid she'd made a mistake, then the woman grinned wide at Willa. The joy only lasted a second though as the man wiped blood from his busted brow and narrowed his eyes at Willa.

Snarling he approached. Willa swung the board again but the man dodged it, knocking it from her hand and grabbing her by the throat. His fingers dug into her skin, crushing her, she grabbed at his fingers trying to pry them off her. Panicked she kicked forward, making contact with the one thing she knew could bring down any man.

It didn't work as well as she'd planned. He groaned and stumbled again, pushing her against the hallway wall, his hand releasing and landing on either side of her shoulder. The free women's self defense classes from the YMCA coming in handy. Willa squatted a little and rammed her head up into his jaw, this time he was effectively knocked back.

The woman grabbed Willa's hand, dragging her down the hallway and towards the dining area, towards safety. Just as they broke into the room arm wrapped around Willa's chest pulling her up into a bear hug. The man dropped Willa back down and she sank as low as possible, snagging the man's leg between her own as she heard the woman yelling to grab everyone's attention. Willa yanked up on his leg as he tried to lift her and they both crashed down backwards. Willa scrambled up, her fist smacking down on his nose, he was disoriented as she stood, then hammered her foot down into his gut.

_"THAT'S NEW YORK STYLE BITCH!" _Willa spat at him. She picked her foot up again but she was grabbed back before she could pound on him again. _"WHAT?"_ She snapped, turning to face Erik. Immediately she fell back. _"I'm sorry."_

He was speaking so quickly she didn't know what was going on, Willa felt like a child being scolded. She looked to the floor as he touched her chin, examining her face.

_"I'm fine,"_ she pushed his hand away and sulked, looking around to see a crowd forming. Erik turned back to say something to Farkas who wasn't far away. Willa wiped her chin as well checking to see if there was anything there, and she was surprised to see her hands were trembling.

Someone grabbed the back of her neck, squeezing. Willa froze. She was yanked back a step, the man, shrieking something to the crowd. Erik turned back, his face cold and unreadable. A shiver ran up Willa as she watched his jaw work. Growling he stepped forward, saying something in a tone that made even Willa wish she wasn't standing in front of him, and his eyes weren't even fixed on her. The man let her go, shoving her forward into Erik. Surprisingly Erik circled an arm around her, protecting her. Willa turned to see the man was stammering something to the pair, he looked as scared as she thought a man could look and she couldn't help but smile. He darted back off down the hallway.

Willa was still grinning, but she scratched her forehead that had begun to tickle. It was wet, Willa pulled her hand away to see red on the ends of her fingers. _"Oh my goodness!"_ She gasped. Erik turned her face back to him, now she realized he was examining her leaking head.

* * *

"Oh by the Nines! I have to thank my savior!" One of the tavern maids was on them the second the guy turned skirt and ran.

Erik could see there wasn't much damage done, but head wounds did tend to bleed quite freely. "What happened?" He asked turning to look at the busty lady.

"Well I was cleaning one of the rooms and that man came in, thinking he was the sun and moon, insisting that I spend the night with him. Well then you're wife showed up and smacked him right upside the head with a fruit platter. Course that didn't drop him, that happened when she headbutt him in the jaw." The lady was speaking so fast Erik didn't even have time to protest about Willa not being his wife. "I just don't understand, you're a mage, I understand you use your head in battle but I never expected in that sense at least."

Willa laughed and pushed against Erik, only then did he realize he was still holding her against him. "She doesn't understand our language, she's from…another island," Erik cleared his throat and released her, "and she's not my wife."

"Does that mean she's available?" The tavern maid looked Willa up and down and gave her a sultry smile.

"I think for now we'll get her cleaned up," Erik said, beginning to lead her away.

"Well when you're all done bring her back and I'll buy her drinks tonight!" The maid yelled as they turned the corner.

"I had no idea this stop was going to be that much fun," Farkas even sounded excited. "I just wish it had created a bigger stir so I could have gotten in on it."

"You know not everything has to be a fight?" Erik grumbled, opening the door to his room. He let Willa slip past him as he leveled his companion with a look.

"Well yeah," Farkas scoffed, passing as well and patting Erik on the shoulder, "but where's the fun in that?"

Erik rolled his eyes and closed the door, digging out a small health potion and rag. He handed the bottle to Willa and she accepted it with a grin, though she cleared her throat quietly, trying to hide her shaking hands.

"I think, maybe tomorrow night at the latest we'll be in Whiterun," Erik tried to hold random conversation with Farkas as if he hadn't noticed the pain she was trying to hide.

Farkas, oblivious as usual, furrowed his brow, "what? We already talked about this."

Erik sighed and handed the rag to Willa, sometimes he wished he'd taken Vilkas with him more often.

"Look, I don't know about you, but me, I'm starving. Why don't we go back and enjoy some good food, a nice bed, and maybe a mead or two?" Farkas was grinning. "And if we're lucky Willa will stomp a couple more men before the night is up."

"We are not going to promote that behavior." Erik growled, he realized he was holding the rag again he must have taken back absentmindedly. Shaking his head he put it down.

"What if that's normal where she's from?" Farkas asked. "It's not out of the normal here at least."

"I don't care," Erik pointed at Farkas, "we are not promoting her getting in a fight." Willa was holding an apple in her hands lifting it to Erik as if asking if she could have it.

"What's the worst that happens?" Farkas asked, he threw up his arms and sighed.

"The worst that happens?" Erik, tried to pay attention to Farkas but Willa was rather persistent shoving the apple at him. Erik put up both his hands to the pair, stopping them from coming at him at the same time. "You," he pointed to Willa, "No, you have to eat dinner first." Then he turned to Farkas as the man opened his mouth to protest. "The worst that happens is we don't figure out why she's here and we never will if she dies in some bar room fight." Farkas opened his mouth to argue and Erik put up his hand. "End of discussion."

* * *

Willa returned the apple to the platter and sighed. She had understood 'no' but the rest of what he said went right over her head. Her stomach churned unhappily after that health potion, but it did the job, her head was better. She didn't want to seem ungrateful as they filed out of the room and back into the main lobby area. She sat in her state of newfound silence as the room bustled around them, food was brought, people chatted quickly, and Willa felt completely alone.

Until a plucking sound across the room lightened the mood. Willa found the man standing to the side, his fingers testing out the strings on a lute. Willa perked up. She'd only seen a lute perhaps twice in her life, while playing at a hipster bar for tips. It sounded and looked like a guitar. Willa's mind wandered back to her discarded instrument, she wondered if the shop owner had been confused when she found it on the floor. With as much clutter as that place had though, it might still be sitting on the floor untouched when she got back.

The man began playing, singing out choruses in a language she didn't recognize but it sounded beautiful, nonetheless. Willa watched him intently, feeling a little less alone, she even realized she was smiling finally.


End file.
